The playback of movies, music and other content recorded on optical disks or other packaged media has become commonplace. For example, it is common to insert a prerecorded optical disc into a computer disc drive and use a virtual, i.e., software-based, player to view the content on the computer screen. Integrated video disc players, i.e., machines that have integral screens, can be used similarly. However, the use of computers and computer-like devices to play back content is rooted in the use of standalone players, i.e., player machines that output signals to television screens. Indeed, standalone media players remain quite popular, and it is common for persons to rent or purchase discs to view movies, television shows, and other content through television screens and other home entertainment systems via a standalone player. Newer high-definition (HD) video formats and economical large-screen HD televisions have helped maintain the popularity of this mode of playback.
Videocassette recorders (VCRs) were for many years the dominant type of playback device for consumer use. A VCR is a machine to which a person can connect a television and play back a videocassette, in which the signals are recorded on magnetic tape. Movies, television shows, and other titles were widely available for rental or purchase on the videocassette medium.
Optical disc media have largely supplanted the videocassette. A common optical disc format is known as DVD. The recording medium (disc) itself is known simply as a DVD. A DVD player plays back a DVD in a manner analogous to that in which a VCR plays back a videocassette. However, the DVD format provides a number of improvements, including on-screen menus that a user can navigate using a remote control. When a person inserts a DVD into a DVD player, the player responds not only to recorded video signals but to recorded data files that include predefined commands for generating on-screen displays, such as menus and sub-screens. Upon inserting a DVD, the user is typically presented with an on-screen main menu listing one or more options, from which the user can select an option using the remote control. The menu options typically include setting up or customizing various playback features, playing back the movie or other main content item in its entirety, navigating to a selected scene or other sub-portion for playback, and navigating to “bonus material” such as movie trailers, commentary, deleted scenes, and behind-the-scenes information. The menu screen display may include not only the textual label of each menu option (e.g., “Play Movie”) but also images, such as still images from the film or other content item. In some instances, the images move in a pattern or otherwise provide a pleasing effect for the user to view while deciding which menu option to select.
One common feature that can be accessed by selecting a menu option is known as “audio commentary.” The audio commentary feature relates to playing a special or secondary audio track while the movie or other main content item is playing back, instead of the main content item's own audio track. Examples of audio commentary include a director, writer, cast member, cinematographer, editor, etc, talking about the making of the film, or a film historian or critic commenting on a film. An extension to the concept of audio commentary, a concept known as “video commentary,” has also been explored. In video commentary, still or moving imagery is displayed in conjunction with the main content item, such as in a split-screen or sub-screen arrangement. For example, video commentary comprising behind-the-scenes video can be displayed alongside the main content item as the main content item is playing back, so that as each portion of a film is played back the user can also see behind-the-scenes video relevant to the making of that portion.
Another feature that has been included in some DVDs and that can be accessed by selecting a menu option is a “gallery” of still images. The still images can include, for example, images of characters that appear in the film or other content item, or images obtained from sources outside the production company, such as artwork accepted from fans of the film or its cast who submitted their artwork to the production company pursuant to a contest.
A newer generation of optical disc technology provides improved HD video formats and media storage capacity and encompasses so-called “smart” media players. One such technology is known as Blu-ray Disc®, a format administered by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a consortium of consumer electronics, computer, and media manufacturers. Media players that take advantage of advanced features of this newer generation of optical disc technology are referred to as smart media players because they can perform operations that are significantly more complex and computer-like than the simple menu navigation and other operations provided under the DVD standard. This next generation of standards contemplates that media players may include non-volatile data storage, such as solid-state (e.g., flash) memory and magnetic disk drives, as well as programmable processor systems that can execute versatile programming code (such as Java code) read from the disc. In addition, some media players include interfaces for connection to the Internet.